MCA MUSIC BRANCHES OUT INTO ASIA

MCA Music Entertainment Intl. officially opened new operations in New Zealand, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore last week, bringing its Asia-Pacific roster to seven offices. MMEI group chairman Al Teller has promised to be in China “in the next 12-24 months.”

The Asia-Pacific blitz started with the launch of Hong Kong regional headquarters in January, and the establishment of operating offices in both Hong Kong and Australia in June. MMEI’s expansion, which has seen the number of global offices rise to 23 in the last 12 months, has focused solely on Asia-Pacific this year because “it’s the fastest-growing marketplace in the world,” according to Teller.

Professing satisfaction with the speed of development in Hong Kong and Australia to date, despite that fact that MCA is the last major record label to set up offices in the region, Teller said China was next on the agenda.

“It’s an extremely important market for us,” he said. “The authorities there have recently put in place intellectual copyright protection mechanisms and we will see if the implementation takes place as plans. But so far, I’m happy with the posture China is taking and I hope to be there within the next 12-24 months.”